USD Magazine Fall 2020

“I’m pleasantly surprised by how well remote learning has gone so far, and am looking forward to seeing where this goes next.” — Allyson Meyer ‘16 (BA), ‘21 (MBA)

ences,” Croom says. And President Harris is

“My summer undergraduate supply chain class had three webi- nars and two guest speakers. I don’t think I would have been able to do that in a traditional class- room environment,” Croom says. When it comes to higher education, the pros and cons of students taking classes on campus, remotely or using a hybrid model are still being eval- uated and enhanced. But 2020 promises to deliver a notably positive contribution. “I think we’ll look back at this as the dawning of a whole new era of enhanced learning experi-

explored things. For example, we know flipped classroom design has educational benefits over traditional classroom design, so it’s great to see a lot of faculty do- ing it. There are younger faculty members who have experience teaching online-only and blended classes, and those who use proj- ect-based and experiential learn- ing looked at how they could take it to the next level.” Other benefits of remote teaching are the tools that serve to strengthen connections be- tween current USD students, faculty and alumni.

rience with online teaching dat- ing back to the mid-‘90s, was placed in a faculty group for teaching/learning and technology. While the execution of online learning experiences differed among faculty members in the spring semester, Croom believes it provided great impetus for hon- ing those skills moving forward. “When I’m on Zoom sessions for webinars, discussions or we have drop-in events, there’s a lot of gray hair,” Croom says. “A lot of the senior faculty are very proactive. I’m impressed by how many faculty members have really

confident that when conditions improve and it’s safe to do so, that USD can pivot again. “When we receive permission to move forward with our plans, we will continue to offer our students the options for remote or in-person instruction — whichever approach they believe is in their best interest. We still remain hopeful we will be able to return to campus later this fall. However, our first priority remains the health and safety of our campus community.”

19

Fall 2020